NEW YORK—Columbia University’s first ever menorah made of cans was built last week, on the first night of Hanukkah. Fourteen student organizations of various ethnic and religious backgrounds contributed to this event. For a five dollars raffle ticket each student got a chance to win an I-Pod and meanwhile donated one can of food to build the can-orah.

“Donating one can of food doesn’t seem like much but a little bit of light defies darkness,” said Karen Blum part of the Lubavitch community of Crown heights, who sponsored the event.

“We wait until it is dark to light up the menorah and symbolically show that the smallest act of positivity can change the world,” said Rabbi Yona Blum.

A total of 466 industrial sized cans of kidney beans and chick peas—kosher of course— were used to build this can-orah and as soon as the lighting ceremony ended they were all given to the New York City food bank.

“There has been a lot of negative talk about the Columbia community,” said Mrs. Blum, referring to a film called "Unbecoming Columbia," produced last winter by the David Project, a Boston-based advocacy group. The documentary focuses on Columbia's Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures Department, asserting that several professors have intimidated and insulted Jewish students during discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“When negative things come up, handle them with positivity and introduce light into the situation,” said Mrs. Blum.